Rating: 
Summary: Incredibly moving story of awe inspiring man
Review: I actually cried while reading this book. Harry S Truman comes alive on these pages and I found myself wondering "why don't they make them like this anymore?". What a wonderful, strong man. Truly a President to respect. This book was a fascinating page turner. Probably the best biography I've ever read.
Rating:
Summary: "Being a President is like riding a Tiger...
Review: ...a man has to keep on riding or be swallowed." So said Harry S Truman. He should know. After only a few months as vice president, he seemed by all accounts, to be totally unprepared and overawed on the occasion of being named our 33rd president, upon the death of FDR in April 1945. His quote about the presidency being like riding a tiger seemed to confirm this. The "accidental president" had a lot to prove. It would be poetic justice to say that he went on to be a popular president, but truth, like reality, is seldom so romantic. Except for short periods, Harry S Truman, throughout his two terms as president, was always extremely unpopular.It has been left to posterity and admirers like David McCullough to restate the case - as he does in TRUMAN - that the man was "a figure of world stature, both a great and good man, and a great American President." Is it a legitimate claim?; can we reconcile this with the young man who was a political unknown until he received backing for Senator from the Kansas City political machine? Indeed it doesn't even appear as if Truman had much political ambition as the book shows that he worked at not being chosen as FDR's running mate. That he was chosen was then less his own doing, and certainly not because he was popular, but due more to political expediency. Truman becoming president Mr McCullough says, can be seen in this light: "it had been the system of politics, the boss system, that counted in deciding his fate." Given this background and less that convincing qualifications for the highest office, it is a tribute to Truman, and an amazing feat of Mr McCullough, that this book convincingly shows just how effective a president Truman was. The adroitness with which Truman handled the tricky domestic and international political events of the period shows that he very quickly learned how to ride a Tiger. "A well written Life is almost as rare as a well-spent one" (Thomas Carlyle)
Rating:
Summary: I Like Harry
Review: What a wonderful story. You have to love this man. If you like the presidents and history, you will like this story. Once he got his start; he was good. He was great. The almost one thousand pages told some wonderful stories. Hopefully we will have another president like Harry.
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant Biography
Review: McCullough's intensively researched, thorough, and moving biography of Harry S. Truman is an accessible account of a president who is almost effaced by the times in which he lived. Remembered mostly (if at all) as a little gray man who fell somewhere between Roosevelt and Kennedy, Truman's accomplishments, failures and personality often fade into the background, against the likes of FDR, Churchill, Stalin, or even Joe McCarthy. McCullough's biography captures the man who inserted a civil rights plank to the Democratic Party platform, risking his presidency, and splitting the party; who fought in WWI, married his childhood sweetheart, failed at business, then succeeded beyond his wildest imaginings at politics; and who, yes, dropped the only two atomic weapons ever used in warfare. McCullough presents Truman in all his contradictions, and his affable, easygoing style. I went and read _Truman_ because I had profound ambivalence towards him, and his actions as president. While this bio did little to clear up my ambivalence, it was expertly and cogently crafted, and I found myself personally liking the subject, even though still troubled by him. In this world with few saints, this is the best one could ask for in a comprehensive biography. McCullough writes from his subject's corner--one can discern a genuine affection for the man in his pages. However, the author does an excellent job of presenting the evidence; of showing the reader that McCullough is a man of his craft; of demonstrating that, while "objective" history may be a myth (yes, certain things did happen, and others did not. What that MEANS, however, is up for constant debate), responsible history is not. Readers who detect bias in the biography are undoubtedly correct. The reason this is troublesome, though, is more that the author's bias does not agree with the reader's, rather than the sheer existence of bias itself. Not that this is necessarily a problem; it simply is the way of things. The last few years have seen an upswing in the reputations of Republican presidents--the renaming of Washington National Airport, and Oliver Stone's laudatory biopic of Nixon being two examples that come immediately to mind--, while Democratic Presidents, such has Clinton and Kennedy have, sometimes deservedly, sometimes not, come under fire. _Truman_ comes as a breath of fresh air to one who is increasingly disturbed by the tenor of our national historical dialogue. I recommend _Truman_ to anyone with an interest in the period or the man.
Rating:
Summary: Where's the rest of him?
Review: Conspicuously absent in the pages of this book is Harry Truman's personal style and manner. Yes, McCullough captures Truman's endearing qualities: his scrupulous honesty and strong moral fibre. But Harry Truman was also an extremely belligerent man with an abrasive, pugnacious manner and style; many people found him thoroughly unlikable. Presenting this very real aspect of Truman's personality would have made for a more balanced portrait, and perhaps a more interesting one. A recent New York Times review of McCullough's new book on John Adams levels the same criticism. His Adams is long on the estimable virtues which make him a great man, but short on the bellicosity and contentiousness which make him more interesting still.
Rating:
Summary: The biography of an authentic American
Review: I am a great fan of biographies of great men. This is the first time I have ached to spend time in the company of the subject of a biography. There is something about Harry Truman --underestimated, shrewd, fallible, magnificent, decent and straight-taliking -- that comes across in this biography. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: I Love That Man
Review: Truman, by David McCullogh, tells the story of a remarkable man. It was fun to read, enlightening, amazing to read about a man without a college education leading our country. Hindsight reveals he did a pretty good job.
Rating: 
Summary: A Valentine to Truman
Review: Well researched and very readable, McCullough has produced the best biography of Truman yet published. McCullough's narrative is rarely critical of Truman's actions, but he's such a great story teller that you hardly notice. For readable biographies, this book is second only to Robert K. Massie's "Peter the Great."
Rating:
Summary: Buy this book
Review: A really great read - unputdownable - a remarkable man in a remarkable time
Rating:
Summary: Great Historical Book
Review: Truman, by David McCullough, is a biography of Harry S. Truman, former president of the United States of America. This book relates the entire story of Truman's life, from his humble beginning in a poor family to his presidency and even after he left the office after his second term. Truman's was a turbulent presidency, it began at the death of Roosevelt, and encompassed the end of World War II and the beginning of the conflict in Vietnam. McCullough talks about the roots of the Truman family, Harry Truman's formative years, the process by which he became a politician, and his years as a politician. McCullough goes into every aspect in great detail, there is nothing lacking in this book. The most interesting sections of this book are those that deal with Truman's presidency. Reading about the decisions he was forced to make and the process by which he made them is fascinating. This process is truly the way things in our country get done, and should be examined by all concerned members of our society. This book clearly shows the relationship of one man as president to the staff which he appoints, and the immense personal sacrifice that each political leader must make to serve the people. Truman was truly a common member of American society, and every person interested in political science, history, society, and the United States of America should read this book.
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